Emmaus in Poland

A discussion with Grzegorz Hajduk, national delegate for Poland on the board of Emmaus Europe.

Can you tell us about how Emmaus began in Poland?

It all started when the founders of the communities of Lublin and Nowy Sącz got in touch with representatives of Emmaus International and thanks to the support of the French communities and the Emmaus community in Cologne. Emmaus Lublin was founded in 1995. In 1999, a community was established in Nowy Sącz, which in 2003 founded a new community in Kraków – Nowa Huta. One association, Emmaus Brat Albert, now runs these two sites.

Emmaus Brat Albert started to follow the spirit of Emmaus in 1999. With the help of many communities from all across Europe, we have made a huge extension and modernised the building in which the Emmaus community was “born”. We also built a house and a farm in Krakow. Nowadays we are working together to achieve more dignified and honest lives, to build a fairer society and to help those who experience poverty and exclusion.

Another community was founded in 2007 in Rzeszów. After financial problems related to the construction of a new house in recent years, this project is now moving forward thanks to the help of our Emmaus friends.

What activities are led by Emmaus in Poland?

Communities in Poland focus on collecting and selling second-hand goods, Emmaus’ traditional activities. We also offer carpentry workshops to our clients and have vegetable gardens which people can use. In Lublin an Italian-Turkish restaurant is managed by the community and can seat up to 75 customers. During the lockdown, this was of course no longer possible, but they adapted to the situation by offering a take-out service. They also run an urban furniture project in collaboration with the local authorities.

All the communities have been created by companions who used to be homeless. Today, there are 16 companions in Rzeszow, 34 in Brat Albert and 20-30 in Lublin. Overall, there are around 100-120 people involved in Emmaus in Poland (companions, volunteers, employees, etc). In addition to our communities we also run homeless shelters, notably in Brat Albert.

How have things been going since the health crisis and how did you adapt to the situation?

We thought it was going to get worse but because of the administrative chaos and conflicting guidelines we were able to carry on selling in our stores. Some of our groups also developed online stores which provided another option to maintain our activities. The pandemic bypassed the communities really – now all members of the communities are vaccinated and we are more optimistic about the future!

What are the challenges facing groups in your country (now and before the crisis)?

The biggest challenge is to maintain our communities and sustain the cooperation between them. The pandemic severely limited direct contact between the members of the groups but we tried to meet as often as possible. We are not very rich communities, sometimes we have problems maintaining our financial liquidity and we are constantly working on this to ensure the brightest possible future for the members of our communities.

Could you add some words about the political situation of the country?

The political situation in our country is not very stable, the right-wing populists that have been in power for 6 years have led us to the highest level of inflation in 30 years, there are deadlocks regarding domestic and foreign policy whilst corruption and nepotism are flourishing. But because they put money in the right pockets they still enjoy great popularity and it is difficult to predict the result of the next election. The influence of the Catholic Church on power and legislation is increasing, especially concerning moral matters and education. Nationalist and xenophobic ideas have been stirred up and a campaign against LGBT people has been launched. Chaotic changes to the law threaten us with exclusion from the European Union, our membership in NATO becomes more fictitious by the day and there are several signs that our country is being pushed into the arms of Russia…

News Poland

#AbolishFrontex

A campaign to abolish the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and end the EU border regime.

Over 740 people have died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean, looking for a place of safety. The EU’s border regime forced them to take dangerous migration routes, often on unseaworthy vessels; it enlisted neighbouring countries to stop them on their way; met them with violence and pushbacks; or refused to rescue them – abandoning them to drown at sea.

Frontex is the European Border and Coast Guard Agency that lies at the centre of this violence. Often hiding away from public scrutiny, over the past months a series of investigations by journalists and human rights groups have put Frontex in the spotlight. Extensive evidence has exposed how the EU’s border force is repeatedly involved in pushbacks and human rights violations.

As a member of Migreurop, Emmaus Europe support the #AbolishFrontex campaign, which claims:

Abolish Frontex
Regularise migrants
Stop all deportations
End detention
Stop the militarisation of borders (and the military industrial complex)
Stop the surveillance of people on the move
Empower solidarity
Stop the EU’s role in forcing people to move
Freedom of movement for all
End the EU border regime

For more information about this international campaign/to get involved: abolishfrontex.org

Defending human rights / Migration European Union News

Emmaüs Brighton & Hove: A botanical wonderland in Portslade

Head to the conservatory at Emmaus Brighton & Hove, and you will find a garden shop with a difference. The Greenhouse @Emmaus is a botanical wonderland – a secondhand garden shop filled with a selection of indoor and outdoor plants as well as gardening treasures donated by the public.

The shop is jammed to the rafters with plant pots, gardening books, tools, furniture, wellies, vases, gnomes, faux flowers and other plant-themed bric-a-brac – all at bargain prices. Many of the plants are grown lovingly onsite in the polytunnel or donated by kind supporters. The Greenhouse is like something from a dream – delicate background music and the sunny location add to the ambiance, and visitors frequently gasp in delight when they walk in for the first time.

Before the pandemic, The Greenhouse regularly hosted botanical-themed craft workshops – where members of the public learned how to make things such as terrariums and macramé plant hangers or how to draw botanical illustration – with all proceeds going to support the community. These popular workshops will start up again soon – once it is safe to do so.

As well as the garden shop and polytunnel, the Greenhouse project also boasts a community allotment and a popular seed swap drawer, where members of the public can place unwanted seed packets and swap them with others for free. The allotment is tended by 9 companions who this year are growing many different varieties of veg for the community.

Emmaus Brighton & Hove in the south of England is the largest Emmaus Community in the UK, with 53 formerly homeless men and women living onsite and staffing the shops and café. The Greenhouse @ Emmaus accepts donations of all good quality gardening items and plants. Head to the Emmaus Brighton facebook page for more details.

Circular economy / The environment News United Kingdom

Emmaus in the Netherlands

A discussion with Jos van der Meer, national delegate for the Netherlands on the board of Emmaus Europe.

Can you tell us about how Emmaus began in the Netherlands?

In the early 1950s a number of young people from the Netherlands went to work with Abbé Pierre in Paris. Once they had returned to the Netherlands they set up a foundation – Vrienden van Emmaus Nederland (Friends of Emmaus Netherlands) – to support Abbé Pierre’s work. The driving forces behind this foundation were Jean and Liesbeth Wilken (later on Jean became Chair of Emmaus International).

In the 60s the idea emerged of starting a community in the country in order to create a more permanent form of support. They had help from Abbé Pierre in finding a location, he had met a baroness who offered to donate an unused stables and a plot of land. In 1966 the first Emmaus community in the Netherlands was launched in Haarzuilens.

What activities are led by Emmaus in the Netherlands?

Live together, work together, share together.

There are currently 10 groups in the Netherlands and 4 groups which are about to join the international movement. They are divided into 7 communities and 7 groups run by volunteers. The communities are relatively small, with between 10 and 15 companions each. In total there are some 80 companions, around 560 active volunteers and over 20 employees working for Emmaus in our country.

The groups in the Netherlands stick to the traditional Emmaus work: collecting, sorting and selling second-hand goods. We have evolved over time, changing from a ragpickers society to a social enterprise with connections with the municipal recycling centres, doing house clear-outs and running ‘upcycling’ workshops for old furniture. Some of the groups are members of the Dutch national organisation of recycling shops which is, in turn, a member of RREUSE.

How have things been going since the health crisis and how did you adapt to the situation?

We had two lockdowns where we were unable to sell our goods as usual. The first was in the spring of 2020 and last one was from December 2020 until early March 2021. After the first lockdown our customers were so happy to be back that most of the losses we had incurred were made up for. When combined with the support we obtained from the government there was even enough in our reserves to survive the second lockdown. The most important thing for us was that there were no outbreaks of Covid-19 in the Dutch communities. The more vulnerable, older volunteers took some time off and are now slowly coming back as the health situation is improving.

What are the challenges facing the groups in your country?

The issue that we noticed during the crisis is that you are financially vulnerable if you only sell your goods in shops or at a market. We need to improve in terms of online sales. Today’s newspaper predicted that by 2022 there will be more digital than physical non-food shops.

A more general challenge for Emmaus in the Netherlands is to keep the Emmaus spirit alive and to find people who are willing to take on this task. Within Emmaus Nederland a task group was formed to look into how we can attract new, committed members.

And what about the political situation of the country and measures related to Emmaus’s struggles?

In March there were national elections in the Netherlands. The liberals and “new right” parties won. The liberal Prime Minister has been in office for more than 10 years but the Dutch people still don’t seem to be fed up with him (the Covid-19 crisis boosted his status). We have 17 parties in parliament, so it takes some wheeling and dealing to form a new government. After more than 2 months of negotiations they moved towards forming a liberal government with a green twinge, but we are still waiting for confirmation of this.

Last week there was some good news. It’s not political but more environmental: Milieudefensie (“Environmental Defense”) won a revolutionary lawsuit and Shell must now go green. The court has ordered Shell to do much more to prevent climate change. Shell must emit 45% less net CO2 in 2030 compared to 2019. Hopefully, this will serve as a starting point for serious measures in forcing companies to be greener.

Netherlands News